Summertime on one of Eastern Montana’s most historic ranches
Bill Gehring rolled up from the old red barn in his tractor, grinning ear to ear.
He waved.
The Historic Gehring Barn, circa 1930. A roadside landmark & attraction outside of Helena, MT in the Gehring Ranch Historic District.
Bill’s family has homesteaded in the Prickly Pear Valley since around 1864. In the more than 150 years since their claim, the ranch has passed through four generations and grown to nearly 3,000 acres, most of which has seen little change since.
I showed up on Bill’s historic ranch one stormy afternoon last July in the hopes of seeing some bison. It was one of those “I heard from so-and-so who heard from so-and-so that you are the buffalo man” kind of scenarios. I was greeted with unexpected hospitality. We chatted for a bit. The storm had pushed the bison back too far to view that day. So, I handed him my card, which, aptly, had a bison on it, and we said bye for now.
Finally, one year later. The perfect opportunity arose.
Exploring the historic Gehring property felt like stepping back in time, with so many of the original buildings intact or even in daily use.
The original homestead at the Gehring ranch. One of twenty-two buildings on the property, some dating back to as early as 1878.
We sipped sweet tea and hopped in Bill’s farm truck, which bucked like a bronco up to the pasture. It only took a few minutes to crest the hill and lay eyes on the herd, which began to approach.
An impressive bull.
“They’re fully wild, but sometimes I bring them cakes and so they see the truck and expect food.”
He cut the engine and the bison brushed up against the truck. I could hear their breath, their rumbling snorts and the calves bleating to their mothers. They looked at me curiously and cautiously, taking turns inspecting the truck.
It was a photographer’s dream.
After the pasture, we walked back across the road that cuts through the property to the old red barn to feed an orphan bison calf.
“This used to be a little dirt road with horses and wagons,” Bill said about the busy paved road. “A lot has changed, but then again, a lot has stayed the same.”
The ranch is now a registered national historic site. Bill hopes to preserve the property and to continue the Gehring family’s legacy of stewardship for generations to come.
